


mountains and valleys, and all that will come in between

by daisylincs



Series: Spideychelle Week 2020 [1]
Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: (But Also A Spideychelle Shipper), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Denial, F/M, First Kiss, Friendship, Lily's Spideychelle Week 2020, Lots of denial, Mj knows, Sharing a Bed, Snark, Spideychelle Week 2020, The Universe Is An Asshole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:08:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24838207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daisylincs/pseuds/daisylincs
Summary: A road trip. Really? Of all the ridiculous, unoriginal ideas…"But, Michelle, it'll be fun!" her mom protested, shooting MJ an encouraging smile as she started packing clothes into her suitcase.Fun. Yeah, right. A lot of things werefun,like sketching, reading, and making fun of Peter Parker to see his cute little face squinch up in dismay.What was notfunwas being stuck in a small vehicle with the rest of the AcaDec team (plus Mr Harrington) for two weeks, with no escape.Oh, and now she had to share a bed with Peter, too? Justperfect.
Relationships: Betty Brant/Ned Leeds (background), Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Series: Spideychelle Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1796671
Comments: 34
Kudos: 119
Collections: Spideychelle Week 2020





	mountains and valleys, and all that will come in between

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! For my first official foray into Spideychelle land, I’m taking part in the Spideychelle Week 2020 challenge. And I am so excited! This year’s prompts were SO much fun; I absolutely _loved_ writing for them.
> 
> A quick note that’ll apply to this entire series: the whole thing takes place a couple of months after Homecoming, and pretends that Endgame/Infinity War never happened (because, you know, fluff and happy endings.) 
> 
> The title of this fic comes from _Tightrope_ from The Greatest Showman, which is one of my favourite movies ever and incidentally also stars Zendaya. If you haven’t seen it yet, well that’s the one time I’d forgive you for exiting this fic immediately and going to do some much-needed movie binging!
> 
> Ridiculousness aside, thank you for stopping by to read this! It really does mean a lot, and if you liked this story, it would make my day if you left a comment or some kudos. Honestly, hearing what people think is the BEST.
> 
> And now, with no further ado (because really, who wants to listen to _me_ when they could be reading Spideychelle?) I give you Day 1 - a Road Trip AU.

MJ must have heard wrong. “I’m sorry,” she said, blinking incredulously up at her mom, “but did you just say you signed me up for a _road trip?”_

Her mom winced. “There’s no need to sound so accusing, sweetie,” she said, leaning against the door and giving MJ a wry look.

MJ folded her arms. “Did I miss the part where you asked me before signing me up?” 

_“Sweetie,”_ her mom said in her special come-on-Michelle-be-reasonable voice. “I knew you would say no, so I -” 

“Disregarded my rights as an individual by signing me up even though I hadn’t agreed to go?” 

Her mom sighed and shook her head, walking into the room and stopping to ruffle MJ’s hair. She ducked away, scowling.

“I just think it’s a good chance for you to bond with that team of yours,” she said, dropping down on MJ’s bed.

MJ felt as though the proverbial rug had been yanked from under her feet. “The… the AcaDec team’s going?” she asked faintly, so shocked she almost lost her trademark dry eloquence.

“Why, yes!” her mom said with a delighted smile. “Isn’t it just the most perfect opportunity?” 

MJ recovered her wits fast. “Uh, _no,”_ she said, shooting her mom an incredulous glare. 

Her mom’s expression turned sad. “Sweetie,” she said in an unusually gentle voice, “you can’t just keep pushing people away because Dad left.” 

“I’m not!” MJ protested. 

Her mom gave her an arch look.

“Okay, fine, maybe I _was,_ a little,” she admitted. “But I’ve stopped doing that, okay? The team are my friends now.”

Her mom didn’t look convinced. “Then why are you so against going on this road trip?”

MJ scowled at her floor. Yeah, she was friends with the AcaDec team - friends in the sense that they sat together at lunch and would say hi if they saw each other in the supermarket.

Closer than that… she had been invited to several sleepovers and afternoon hangouts, but she always said no. 

And, okay, maybe she was a little afraid of letting people get close to her - but honestly, could you even blame her? Every person she had ever let in had walked right out of her life again.

Her mom was watching her with a sad, sympathetic kind of expression that made MJ’s skin itch. She wasn’t some kind of broken, sob story case who needed to be told everything was going to be okay - she was _fine_ the way she was, really. She didn’t _need_ a group of friends to be happy.

Completely uncalled-for, Betty’s cheerful smile flashed into her mind, quickly followed by Peter’s dorky grin and Ned’s endless list of Star Wars references.

Okay, so maybe having friends wasn’t the worst thing ever. 

“I still don’t like this idea,” she grumbled. And it was true, because… a road trip? Really? Of all the ridiculous, unoriginal ideas… 

"But, Michelle, it'll be fun!" her mom protested, shooting MJ an encouraging smile as she started packing clothes into her suitcase. 

Fun. Yeah, right. A lot of things were _fun,_ like sketching, reading, and making fun of Peter Parker to see his cute little face squinch up in dismay. 

What was not _fun_ was being stuck in a small vehicle with the rest of the AcaDec team (plus Mr Harrington) for _two weeks,_ with no escape. 

They might be her friends, but that was pushing things a bit far.

Which, she thought dryly, was her mom’s entire point - stepping out of her comfort zone and all that.

“Joy,” she muttered, just loud enough for her mom to hear. “Let the social experiment begin.”

// 

That Saturday, MJ was up before the sun even rose, much to her disgust. It was a holiday, for God’s sake - holidays should be for waking up as late as she liked and spending the day in bed with a book and a hot chocolate.

But, oh, no. _This_ holiday she was up at an ungodly hour, waiting in the school’s parking lot to be picked up by the bus that would be home sweet home for the next two weeks.

She saw Peter and Ned on a bench a little way off, looking blearily around the parking lot and clutching on to a steaming Star Wars thermos flask.

She felt her lips tug upward slightly at the side - dorks. 

Her mother, noticing her smile, nudged her shoulder. “Go on, MJ, say hi,” she encouraged.

“Mom, no -” she protested, but it was too late. Peter, curse his sharp senses (which she still found a little _too_ convenient, by the way) heard them and perked up. 

“MJ! Hi,” he said, turning around to grin at her.

MJ cursed him doubly for the way that grin turned her insides to goo. _Stop it, me,_ she told herself firmly. _It’s not like you have a crush on him or anything, so quit being so… melt-y whenever he looks at you._

Rolling her eyes to keep from grinning back - he really did have an unfairly infectious smile - she gave her mom a hug goodbye and walked over to the boys. “Whaddup, dorks?”

“Me,” Ned said glumly. “Though I really didn’t want to be.”

MJ winced sympathetically. “Me either.”

On his other side, Peter gave an entirely-too-cheerful shrug for such an ungodly hour in the morning. “I mean, it’s not great,” he said. “But I’m kind of used to getting up at weird times - ow!” That last bit because Ned had none-too-subtly kicked him in the leg. 

“For...for the Stark Internship,” he said, nodding wide-eyed at her when he realised he had said something he shouldn’t.

Another thing about Peter Parker: he was a _terrible_ liar.

But MJ didn’t bother to call him out on it, even though a part of her was kind of dying to. She _knew_ he was hiding something, and she was even sixty-seven percent sure she knew what it was.

Now was not the time to test her theories, though. “Uh-huh, whatever,” she said, rolling her eyes and pretending not to notice the boys exchange a relieved glance. God, they were terrible liars.

Luckily for the air of awkwardness that had settled around them, the bus chose that minute to turn into the parking lot.

MJ took one look at it and groaned. It was even _worse_ than she had feared. Not only was it bright yellow, but it was also _tiny!_

Even Peter was looking a little shocked. “That’s… really small,” he said, his brow furrowing as he watched the bus pull up in front of them.

“No shit, Sherlock,” MJ griped. “It shouldn’t even be called a bus - more like a glorified van.”

Peter and Ned murmured their agreement, dismayed gazes still on the bus.

Oh, and it only got better from there on. 

“For this trip,” Mr Harrington announced, clearing his throat and rifling through a stack of papers in his hands (MJ wished he’d just use a phone, it would save everyone _so_ much time), “you are going to be assigned specific seating partners for the duration of the journey. No switching, no complaining.”

The team immediately chipped in with yells of “I want to go with Betty!” and “Yasmin, I wanna be with Yasmin,” but Mr Harrington held up his hands to shush them all. 

“The seating partners,” he called over the babble of voices, “have already been chosen.”

A new wave of yells rose up, this time things like “but that’s not fair!” and “what if I don’t get to sit next to Yasmin?”

“Yes, Zoha,” said Mr Harrington, who at this point was already looking exhausted. “You will be with Yasmin.”

The two girls high-fived and made their way into the bus-van.

“Cindy, Abe,” Mr Harrington continued, “you two will be together.”

Cindy Moon and Abe Brown gave each other sceptical glances, but didn’t seem too unhappy with the arrangement, getting their bags with little complaint.

“Ned,” Mr Harrington said, and MJ smiled to herself as Ned automatically looked at Peter. “You will be with Betty.”

Wait, what?

“Um, sir?” Ned said, echoing her own sentiments. “Did you just say I’ll be with... _Betty?”_

“Yes, is that a problem?” Mr Harrington asked, lowering his papers to give Ned an annoyed look.

“Uh… um… well, that is… I just…” Ned stammered.

“Good, then it’s not a problem,” Mr Harrington said, obviously not in the mood to be patient. “Brant, Leeds, get in.”

MJ flashed Betty a sympathetic look as the blonde followed Ned into the bus - for a popular girl like Betty, sitting next to someone like Ned for two weeks had to be a nightmare.

She was so occupied watching Betty’s crisis face that she almost missed Mr Harrington’s next seating assignment - until she heard her own name, that is. 

She blinked, startled, and looked around. Who had she been assigned?

Then she met Peter’s wide, horrified eyes, and she knew. 

Oh, _fabulous._

No time to agonise over it, though - Mr Harrington was already giving them impatient looks. 

She'd just have to shrug it off, preferably with some sarcasm for good measure. Luckily, she was very good at that. 

“Come on, Parker,” she said, rolling her eyes and nudging him in the direction of their bags. “I don’t bite.”

For some reason, that made him flush scarlet. “I know that!” he said, getting his bag and hesitating for a moment like he might offer to take hers, too.

MJ very deliberately shouldered her bag, and Peter took the hint and moved on. 

They sat down near the front of the bus, sharing a groan as they realised they had had the bad luck of taking seats right behind Flash.

Sure enough, he was already live-streaming. “Hey, Flash Mob,” he said, waving his phone around like an excitable two-year-old with a new toy. “Check it out, we’re going on a road trip.”

MJ closed her eyes and banged her head against the seat in front of her. Clearly, someone up there had it out for her today.

The only good thing was that it probably couldn’t get any worse.

// 

The universe, MJ thought, was one sadistic piece of shit. 

_Why_ had she thought things couldn’t get worse? She should have known better - the moment you thought something like that, the universe rubbed its hands gleefully and set out to prove you wrong in as many ways possible.

Well, today was no exception. 

But the thing was, the universe was not only sadistic, it was also _sneaky._ As it turned out, it liked nothing more than lulling her into a false sense of security before jumping the big one on her. 

It happened like this:

During the bus ride, MJ was pleasantly surprised to find that, after a few minutes of awkwardness, she and Peter actually got along quite well. All it took was her mentioning the Eiffel Tower mind-control theory, and then after a minute of silence (in which she kicked herself for even _mentioning_ that, what was she, crazy?) he turned and began to work out the physics for how far it would be able to broadcast.

After that, conversation was easy. They chatted about everything and anything scientific - Peter, she learned, really _was_ as smart as everyone said (probably smarter, actually.) Having an intelligent conversation with someone who actually understood what she was talking about was a wonderful change, and she rather thought Peter felt the same way.

So when she got off the bus, she was in a good mood, which lasted about… five seconds before things went from bad to worse.

It started with Ned and Betty. They got off the bus holding hands.

Yes, holding hands.

Now, that in itself wasn’t bad. It was the repercussions of the NedBetty (Netty? BrantLeeds? _Breeds?)_ joinup that made things complicated.

See, Betty got it into her head that nothing would be more romantic than sharing her crappy motel bed with her brand-new boyfriend. And, of course, it was MJ’s bad luck to be her roommate.

“Please, MJ,” Betty begged for what had to be the thousandth time. “Please, if you’ll let Ned switch with you I’ll be in your debt for the rest of my life.” 

A tad dramatic for MJ’s tastes, but seeing as Betty hadn’t stopped begging yet (and didn’t look like she would anytime soon) it seemed MJ’s only chance for some relative peace was agreeing.

So she did. 

Betty squealed and hugged her, before rushing off to tell Ned, who looked just as thrilled as she did. 

It was only when she saw Peter standing awkwardly behind them that it clicked for her. If Betty was switching to sleep next to Ned, that meant… 

… she'd have to share a bed with Peter. 

Just perfect.

“Uh, MJ?” Peter asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. He raised a hand to scratch his hair, embarrassed, when she shot him a withering glare.

“What?” she asked, letting her tone snap cold and sharp.

“Uh… I just wanted to… that is to say, we’re going to have to… I mean -” 

“Yes, we’re going to have to share a bed. Is that going to be a problem?” she asked, doing her absolute best to show that for her, it was most definitely _not_ a problem.

Fortunately, she had always been really good at pretending she didn’t care.

Peter was frowning as he looked at her, awkwardness momentarily forgotten in his confusion. “Really? As simple as that?”

“Why shouldn’t it be?” she asked, scowling at him to hide the way her stomach was doing these odd, roiling kind of flip-flops. 

_Seriously, me,_ she thought with no small amount of annoyance, _what the hell is it with you and Peter Parker? His confused expression is not CUTE, it’s stupid._

“I don’t know, don’t you think it’s a bit… awkward? Sharing a bed, and all?” he asked, blushing bright red when she turned to give him a flat stare.

“I am physically capable of staying on one side of the bed for the duration of the night,” she said. “So unless you’re saying you’re _not -”_

“No, no, of course I can stay on one side of the bed!” he rushed to assure her. 

MJ spread her arms in a _well-there-you-are-then_ kind of gesture. “See? No problem.” 

She turned and walked quickly away before some hint of how totally-not-calm she was on the inside showed on her face. Much as she _wished_ she was as unconcerned as she pretended to be, on the inside…

Well, she was a mess.

On the one hand, she felt this nervous, jumpy feeling - kind of like you get when you touch an electric socket. It was a mix of nerves and, for some reason she was totally not willing to go into, excitement.

And on the other hand, she felt indignation, annoyance and a steady kind of disbelief. First she had to sit next to him on the bus, now she had to share a _bed_ with him? It was like the universe was determined to make her admit she had a crush on him!

Hang on, _what?_

What the hell did she just think?

She didn’t have a… a _crush_ on him! That was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard of!

She was obviously overtired.

When she got to her - _their,_ she reminded herself with a silent groan, _their_ \- room, she headed straight for the bathroom. The only thing that would sort her out right now was a long, scalding shower.

// 

Twenty minutes later, MJ’s entire body was bright red with the heat - but it had worked. The burning water had washed every ridiculous thought about one Peter Parker completely and utterly out of her brain.

She walked out of the bathroom, towel-drying her hair and feeling quite pleased with herself. Then she looked up and saw him.

MJ did something she never thought she’d do in her entire life. She _squeaked._

Peter Parker had lost his shirt.

“MJ!” he yelped when he turned around to see her, frozen in the doorway with the towel held stupidly half-way up to her face. “I thought you were still in the bathroom!” 

“Yeah, well, I’m not!” she hissed, mentally facepalming herself for the stupid comeback. She was a little busy, okay, trying really really hard not to look at his stomach. Abs. Oh, God, he had nice abs.

“Put a shirt on!” she whisper-yelled when he continued to stand there, frozen like a deer in the headlights, which was really _not_ helping her efforts to look away. 

“Right! Shirt! Yeah,” he said, blushing redder than she had thought possible and diving for one of his nerdy science-pun T-shirts. She tried her best not to notice how that made his muscles flex and ripple. 

Oh, God, what was wrong with her? Sighing over a guy’s muscles like she was some love-sick cheerleader groupie…

MJ lifted her towel, suddenly glad she still had it, and pressed it firmly over her face. 

_Now breathe,_ she told herself sternly. _Think about this logically._

Logically. Well, if she looked at this from a completely logical, detached point of view… there was only one conclusion to be drawn.

She had a crush on Peter Parker.

Oh, God. She had a crush on Peter Parker.

 _Well, of course you do,_ said the part of her that was always sarcastic, with something that sounded an awful lot like smugness. _Smiling when he’s there, finding his stupid face cute, laughing at his dumb science puns -_

“Okay, okay!” she said out loud, scowling at herself. “No need to rub it in.” 

“Uh, MJ?” came Peter’s concerned voice from the other side of the room. “Are you okay?” 

She took the towel off her head, feeling her cheeks warm as she realised she had essentially just been talking to herself. “Fine,” she said, studiously not looking at him. 

Peter shifted awkwardly. “Good. That’s good. Uh… are you sure, though?” 

She folded her arms, giving him a flat stare. 

Mistake. Now she felt like blushing again. 

“I just mean,” Peter said, luckily completely oblivious to her embarrassment, “your heart-rate is going a bit crazy.” His eyes widened the second he realised what he’d said. “Not that I can hear your heart-rate from here, of course! That would be impossible! I just meant it… looked like your heart-rate might be going crazy. Because of your face! Uh, not that there’s anything wrong with your face. Or anything. I just thought -” 

“Oh my God, Peter, shut _up,”_ she said, feeling like she would either burst out laughing or explode from sheer embarrassment. She should have _guessed_ his… condition… gave him enhanced senses. 

The only good thing about this entire convoluted situation was that she _finally_ had her suspicions confirmed.

She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep back a smug grin. It was so nice to be right.

Peter was still as red as a tomato. She rolled her eyes at herself for finding it cute - wait, no, she didn’t have to do that anymore! She was past the denial phase. 

Huh. She never thought it would be _freeing_ to be able to think about Peter Parker being cute, but there you are. It was actually kind of a relief that she didn’t have to go on page-long denials to herself every time she thought he was cute.

Because he was. Cute. 

And awkward as all hell.

And probably the world’s worst liar.

Where she would always roll her eyes at that, it now brought her up short as her mind fully connected the dots.

If she had a crush on Peter, that meant…

… She had a crush on Spider-Man. 

Okay. 

Okay, she was definitely not freaking out about this. 

“MJ?” Peter asked, jolting her out of the beginning of a mild panic. “Your heart-rate is going up again.”

“Is it my face again?” she asked him dryly, glad for the excuse to drop the panic. She hated panicking, and she prided herself on never doing it. 

But, oh God. She had a crush on a superhero. An actual, real-life superhero.

And she was going to share a bed with him!

No, she told herself, suddenly feeling the most absurd urge to giggle as she pictured Spider-Man wrapped in fluffy blankets. _You’re sharing a bed with Peter. It’s not the same._

But was it better, or worse?

“Let’s just get into bed,” she said, cutting Peter off in the middle of another painfully awkward attempt to explain himself. 

“Bed. Yeah. Great,” he said, and if she had thought it wasn’t possible for him to look even more awkward, well she had been wrong. “You first?” 

“Why don’t you go first?” she asked archly. “Societal norms are a misogynistic construct and there’s no need to cling to them.” 

She thought she saw Peter hide a grin as he got into bed first, pulling the blankets over on her side.

She rolled her eyes, but now it was her turn to hide a smile. Peter Parker was so nice sometimes it was honestly just unfair. 

Reaching over to flick off the lights, MJ felt her way over to the bed, wincing slightly as her knees hit the frame. Damn, this bed was even crappier than she had thought. 

“You okay?” Peter asked, his voice sounding slightly muffled, as though he was speaking into his pillow. 

“I’m fine, it was just a small bump,” she said, feeling for her pillow and settling down as comfortably as she could.

She heard Peter shift slightly in the darkness. “No, I mean, is _this_ okay?” he clarified. “Because if it’s not, I can always go sleep on the floor. You know that, right?” 

MJ felt a warm glow in her chest that was slowly expanding to fill her whole body. He really was the nicest person on earth, wasn’t he?

 _That right there,_ her mind piped up suddenly. _That’s why you like him._

MJ wanted to deny having any idea what she was talking about, but, well, she was talking to herself, so she kind of _had_ to know.

And since today was a day for revelations…

 _Yeah,_ she thought. _Yeah, that’s why I like Peter Parker._

It wasn’t because he was really attractive - though, she had total visual proof of that now. Her cheeks burned just thinking about it.

No, she liked him because in his oblivious, clueless way, Peter Parker was also the nicest, most loyal person she had ever met. If there was one person she could trust never to walk out on her, it was him. 

“I know,” she told him, softly. And because she seemed to be on a roll tonight, “Goodnight, Peter.” 

She could just hear the small smile in his voice as he answered, “Goodnight, MJ.” 

She was smiling too as she fell asleep. 

// 

Apparently admitting her feelings was good enough for the universe, and it actually decided to stop giving her crap for the rest of the tour. 

(Okay, no, she had learned her lesson - it was dangerous to think that. It stopped giving her _total_ crap.) 

Because much as she hated to admit it, MJ was kind of enjoying the road trip. 

Each morning, she woke up next to Peter, and despite how embarrassing that should be, it… wasn’t. It felt comfortable. Natural, even. 

(She didn’t want to follow the thought process of _why_ it felt like that. No, thank you. She was quite content just to enjoy it.) 

They had even figured out a whole routine by now - she showered first, and he, being the impossibly nice person that he was, made the beds. In return, she went down to get them both coffee while he took his turn in the shower.

After that was breakfast, and though she herself didn’t talk much, MJ found herself seated just on the edge of the main group, listening to their chatter with an amused smile. Peter seemed determined to draw her into conversation, though, and every so often he actually succeeded. (She pretended not to see his smug smile when he did, though she didn’t bother to hide the affection behind her eye roll.) 

Then it was time for the actual road-trip part of things, and she was constantly surprising herself by how _fun_ it was. Pointing out landmarks to Peter - and discussing crazier and crazier conspiracy theories about them - was one of the most enjoyable things she had done in a long time.

When he put his mind to it, Peter was a twisted genius in coming up with conspiracy theories. She would never admit it, but his Golden-Gate-Bridge-is-secretly-the-entry-point-of-the-Matrix theory was _inspired._

Also, the scenery was actually breathtakingly beautiful. She had never thought of New York State as anything else than a cityscape, but here they were passing through green fields, forests, mountains and even _lakes._

When they stopped for lunch, she and Peter would sit next to each other and make fun of Ned and Betty (their expressions would never stop being priceless. MJ still hasn’t quite managed to wipe off her grin from that time she and Peter solemnly convinced them that they would have to break up to get into the latest museum.)

And when they were finally done for the day, they would complain about the crappy motel food and even crappier beds together for a long time after lights-out. 

Now, MJ would never admit it, but she kind of doesn’t want this road-trip to end.

Of course, _there_ the universe had to smirk at her again. A week ago, she would have given anything to just get to the _end_ of the stupid thing. Now, though, she wants to draw out every moment.

Because she knows the minute they get back to school, this easy camaraderie between her and Peter will fade away. Let’s be realistic, Ned and Betty were going to break up after the trip. Then Peter, good friend that he was, would rush to comfort Ned, and she, MJ, would be left behind. 

And the thing was, Peter wouldn’t even _try_ to do it. He would still try to include her, because he was too _nice_ not to. 

It just wouldn’t be the same.

Yeah, MJ knew she was being selfish, and it was ridiculous of her to want to keep Peter for herself. He wasn’t property, for God’s sake, and as his first and best friend, Ned had total rights to his time, too.

But that didn’t stop her from wishing she could pause time right at that moment Peter turned to give her a crooked grin, the sunlight filtering through the forest behind him and turning his skin a soft gold. His brown eyes sparkled, and he looked so carefree and happy. 

MJ smiled back. 

// 

Of course, the road trip drew to an end eventually, and this time she couldn’t even blame the universe. Time passed. It was just a fact. 

The odd thing was, Peter seemed to be just a little despondent that this was all ending, too.

Shouldn’t he be happy to be going back to his Aunt May? 

Apparently not, if that conflicted look on his face was anything to go by. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked, bumping his shoulder lightly with her own. It would never stop bringing a small smile to her lips that they had become so comfortable with each other these last two weeks - she could just casually bump his shoulder, like she had just done, and it wasn’t even a big deal. He just bumped her shoulder back.

Today he didn’t do it, though. “Nothing,” he said. 

MJ gave him a _look._ “I’d like to think I know you better than _that,”_ she said, folding her arms. “That’s not your nothing’s-wrong face, Peter. That’s your something’s-wrong-and-I-don’t-know-how-to-spit-it-out face.” 

“I don’t have faces like that!” he protested, giving her an injured look.

She replied with a flat stare, holding his gaze until he threw up his hands and relented. “All right, fine. It’s just that… I’m going to miss waking up next to you.” 

His eyes flew wide as he realised what he had just said, and he stammered to correct himself as MJ barked a laugh. “That’s not what I meant - I mean, God, that sounded awful, but -” 

“I know what you meant,” she said, once she had gotten over her snorts of laughter. “That was just unfortunately phrased.” 

Peter raised a hand to scratch at his neck, his ears bright red. “It really was.” 

“I’m going to miss waking up next to you too,” she blurted, and winced at herself. 

But Peter’s expression made it all worthwhile - a mixture of relief and something softer she couldn’t quite define. “Really?” 

“Yeah,” she said, ducking her head to study her feet.

She heard Peter draw in a deep breath next to her, clenching his fists slightly as though he was nervous about something. She wondered what it was, but she kept her gaze on her shoes. 

“I have to tell you something,” he said, in the tone of voice that suggested he had summoned all his courage to do this.

That got her to look up. “Yeah?” 

“MJ, I…” he began. 

“Am Spider-Man,” she finished for him. 

He took a step back. “What?” 

“That’s what you were going to say. That you’re Spider-Man.” She didn’t know why she said it - but she thought it was maybe to stall him for just a moment, because she wasn’t ready to hear what he wanted to say. Not yet. 

She needed to know the truth, the _whole_ truth, first. To make absolutely sure that she wasn’t setting herself up for another heartbreak, because she _refused_ to build a relationship based on lies.

Peter took another step back, his face going from shocked to alarmed to hurt to confused, and finally settling on denial. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “Of course not.” 

“I’ve been watching you for a while now, and we’ve gotten a lot closer during this trip,” she told him. “It’s kind of obvious.” 

“I’m _not_ Spider-Man,” he denied again. “I mean, what would make you think I was Spider-Man?” 

She was starting to lose her cool a little bit. “Peter, Washington? That you, like, disappeared, out of nowhere, for no reason? And then Spider-Man was just suddenly there?” 

“No, I had my… thing! With my tummy! I was sick,” he protested.

“You know Susan Yang thinks you’re a male escort?” she told him, partly just to see the look on his face and partly because she really was getting annoyed with him. She _hated_ that he was lying to her right after he was probably going to confess his feelings for her. 

His expression was just as good as she had hoped - total disbelief and shock. “Of course I’m not a male escort!” 

“Well, then you’re Spider-Man,” she concluded smugly.

“No, I’m _not_ Spider-Man, at all,” he insisted, as though emphasizing the syllables would make it true. 

She gave an exasperated huff and reached for her backpack, pulling it over her shoulder and deliberately turning her back on Peter.

He caught her shoulder. “MJ, wait. What are you doing?” 

“You’re obviously not going to tell me the truth,” she said, slapping his hand off her shoulder and pretending not to notice the flash of hurt that crossed his face, “so I’m leaving.” 

She didn’t give him the chance to say anything else, even though a part of her really wanted to. Whipping around, she pulled the backpack higher onto her shoulders and stalked away.

She could practically sense him bouncing on the balls of his feet, and feel the indecision coming off him in waves. 

“MJ, wait,” he said again.

She turned around slowly, glare on full-force. _“What?”_

“You were right,” he admitted, twisting his hands fingers in a nervous tic that should be annoying, but she’s too relieved to care. He told her, thank _God._

“Right about what?” she asked, just to make absolutely sure she wasn’t misunderstanding him.

“You’re really going to make me say it?” he asked with just a hint of exasperation. When she nodded, folding her arms, he sighed. “All right. I am Spider-Man.” 

MJ let herself grin with every bit of that floaty, ecstatic feeling that was rushing through her body. “Good, because I finally made peace with having a crush on a superhero.” 

Peter’s face was _priceless._ “Wait, what?” 

She rolled her eyes. “You heard what I said. It took me most of the trip, but yeah, I meant it.” 

“Wait,” Peter repeated, his eyes still wide. “You _like_ me? I thought it was just me! I mean, you’re always so unconcerned and sarcastic, but then you’re MJ, so -” 

She cut him off by closing the distance between him and kissing him quickly on the lips.

“And you kissed me,” he said dumbly, staring at her with an expression of total shock. “What?” 

She ducked her head, her lips tingling a little and her cheeks flaming. “Well, you wouldn’t shut up otherwise, so -” 

“I really like you,” he interrupted, stepping forward and putting a hand on her waist. MJ’s breathing stuttered. 

“I really like you too,” she somehow managed to reply.

And then they were kissing again, properly this time, and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world. MJ, who prided herself on always having a witty comeback, couldn’t think anything other than _wow_ and _who knew._ Her world narrowed entirely down to Peter and his lips on hers, and for once she didn’t mind her lack of eloquence at all.

When they finally pulled apart for air, she could feel a tiny smile tugging at her lips. “Well,” she said, idiotically. Apparently kisses robbed you of your eloquence ever _after_ the actual act was finished. 

“Yeah,” Peter agreed, his cheeks flushing a light pink that somehow just made him look so adorable.

MJ leaned over to press another quick kiss against his lips, because, well, she could. “I’ll see you,” she promised, taking a small step back and smiling to herself at the floored look on her face.

(In his defence, she probably looked exactly the same way. They were such a pair of idiots for each other, weren’t they?)

But as she walked away, feeling Peter’s smile warm the back of her head, MJ thought that, just this once, she would accept being an idiot.

// 

“So,” her mom said when MJ walked into her room, dumping her bag on the floor. “I want to hear all about your trip!”

MJ walked over to her bed and collapsed on the soft, mercifully un-lumpy mattress. Yeah, she was going to miss waking up next to Peter - next to her boyfriend, oh God the thought still made her smile so much - but she was definitely not going to miss the crappy motel beds they had shared. 

She didn’t even realise she was grinning up at her ceiling in a horribly cliché way until her mom cleared her throat. 

_“Well,”_ her mom said, with an entirely-too-gleeful look. “It seemed like my plan went _very_ right, hmm?”

MJ rolled her eyes, but not even that managed to get rid of the smile on her face. (All Peter’s fault. Him and his stupid puppy eyes… see, there she went, getting totally off track again. It was totally ridiculous.) 

“So?” her mom prompted, sitting down next to MJ and nudging her none-too-gently with her elbow.

“So, what?” MJ asked, squinting up at her with this kind of soft, contented smile settled on her lips.

Her mom smiled back, and MJ thought she had never seen her look happier. 

She felt a little guilty for that - it couldn’t have been easy for her mom, raising a daughter alone. Especially not a daughter like MJ, at that, who was rarely, if ever, happy.

Well, MJ was happy now - so happy she still didn’t quite believe it herself. 

“So, don’t you have something you’d like to tell me?” her mom prompted with another elbow nudge that successfully shook MJ out of her thoughts.

MJ shook her head, deliberately playing obtuse. “Nope, no idea what you’re talking about.”

Her mom rolled her eyes, but there was only affection behind it. “Stubborn girl,” she said. “You’ll never tell me I was right, will you?”

“Not to your face,” MJ replied cheekily.

Her mom shook her head, but she was smiling as she stood up, ruffling MJ’s hair for good measure. “Unpack your things, okay, sweetie? I’ll hear all the details over dinner.”

MJ nodded, contemplating her ceiling again and watching out of the corner of her eye as her mom walked across the room. Just when she was about to leave the room, MJ called softly, “Mom?”

She paused, one hand still on the door. “Yeah?”

“Thank you,” MJ said, and she meant it with her whole heart.

Because while she would never admit it out loud, this road trip was the best idea her mother had ever had.

_**The End.** _


End file.
